Journal of Applied Research in Chemical-Polymer Engineering

Abstract Research subject: Non-soap-based greases formulated with bentonite are widely considered suitable lubricants for demanding industrial applications due to their high thermal stability and resistance to harsh environmental conditions. However, the inherent structure of natural bentonite can limit its lubrication performance. Acid activation is one of the effective strategies to enhance its functional properties.
Research approach: In this study, Iranian bentonite was activated using sulfuric acid at two concentrations (0.25 M and 3 M) and then incorporated as a thickening agent with SN180 base oil. The synthesized grease samples were evaluated using FTIR, XRF, FESEM, Four-Ball Wear Test (ASTM D2266), and Dropping Point Test (ASTM D2265).
Main results: The FTIR and XRF results indicated that acid activation reduced aluminum and structural water content while increasing the silica content in bentonite. FESEM images confirmed increased porosity and surface heterogeneity as a result of acid treatment. The four-ball wear test showed that the grease containing bentonite activated with 0.25 M acid exhibited superior anti-wear performance compared to other samples, whereas the 3 M acid-treated sample demonstrated weaker performance due to structural degradation. All samples showed acceptable thermal performance in the dropping point test, with values exceeding 272 °C. These findings suggest that the proper control of acid activation conditions plays a crucial role in optimizing the structural and functional properties of non-soap-based greases.

Abstract Research subject: Electromagnetic heating is one of the new methods of upgrading and increasing heavy oil extraction. In this method, electromagnetic waves will increase temperature, break heavy compounds, reduce viscosity, and improve and increase oil recovery.
Research approach: In this research, magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe₃O₄) were synthesized by the co-precipitation method, and the efficiency of these nanoparticles in the process of electromagnetic heating and heavy oil upgrading was investigated. Also, a comparison was made between the effect of these nanoparticles in the process of electromagnetic heating and activated carbon. In this process, oil samples containing 0.1% of Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles or activated carbon were irradiated with microwave (frequency 2.54 GHz and power 400 W) for 0 to 8 minutes, and the temperature and viscosity variation were investigated.
Main results: The results showed that microwave radiation increased the temperature of the samples. The temperature of the sample of crude oil, crude oil with activated carbon, and crude oil with Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles increased from ambient temperature to 70, 82, and 90°C, respectively, under wave radiation for 8 minutes. Also, the most significant decrease in viscosity was reported in 4 minutes: the viscosity of crude oil sample, crude oil with activated carbon, and crude oil with Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles under wave irradiation for 4 minutes decreased 295 mP.a to 261, 254, and 223 mP.a, respectively. In other words, the viscosity of the samples under wave irradiation for 4 minutes for crude oil, crude oil with activated carbon, and crude oil with Fe3O4 nanoparticles decreased by 11.5, 13.9 and 24.4%, respectively.

Abstract Research subject: Activated carbon is a porous absorbent with reasonable specific surface area, pore volume, and pore size distribution for many applications such as adsorption. This material is obtained from various natural sources of carbon. Due to increasing demand for activated carbon, the economical precursors have been highly noticed. In the meanwhile, black liquor, industrial residue from Lignin Kraft process in paper factories, has high amount of carbon which can be used as an appropriate and cheap precursor for activated carbon production, and make high value added.
Research approach: In this study, at first, lignin was extracted from black liquor, prepared from Iran wood & paper industries-Chouka factory, under defined conditions and investigation of pH effect, and then, powdered carbon was synthesized from extracted lignin using chemical activation method by phosphoric acid chemical agent. To consider the effects of activation temperature parameter on activated carbon structure, including specific surface area, pore volume, and pore size distribution, three activation temperature of 400, 500 and 600 ^⁰C in impregnation ratio of 2 were investigated. To study the physical and morphological properties of sensitized absorbents, they were analyzed by BET, SEM, and FTIR methods.
Main results: The results confirmed that the highest amount of lignin with a similar structure to the degraded lignin was recovered at pH = 2. Investigation of the effect of activation temperature parameter suggested that the activation temperature of 500 ^°C can be a reasonable temperature for the synthesis of high specific surface area activated carbon and increasing the temperature above 500 ^°C is not effective. Among these sensitized adsorbents, the activated carbon sensitized in activation temperature of 500 ^⁰C showed the highest specific surface area and the pore volume of 1573.31 m²/g and 0.89 cm³/g respectively, which exhibits the high potential of this precursor as activated carbon adsorbent.

Abstract In this research, the possibility of asphaltene separation from the vacuum tower residue using the low cost industrial solvents such as 402, 404, 406, and 410 was investigated. In order to separate asphaltene the IP143/01 and ASTM D 3279-07 separation methods were utilized. In order to find the optimal state of asphaltene precipitation, Design of experiments software with three factors of residence time, the solvent-to-feed ratio and the volume percent of 406 solvent to the total solvent of 406 and 410 were used. The results showed that the effectiveness of each parameter in precipitating the asphaltene attributed to the ratio of solvent to feed, the ratio of solvent 406 to total solvent, and the residence time, respectively and there was a significant interaction between the basic parameters. The best asphaltene precipitation of 5.06% of 7.5% happens at the residence time of 36.97 hours, the ratio of solvent to feed of 35.95 ml/gr and the volume percent of 406 solvent to the total solvent of 27.20%. Asphaltene precipitation percentage for the optimal mixture of industrial solvents was 22.5% lower than the precipitated asphaltene from normal heptane solvent. However, according to the solvents price, industrial solvents (410 and 406) were approximately 50% cheaper than normal heptane, and hence on overall, there was a cost savings of more than 20%

Abstract Research subject: The use of scrap tires to recover energy and their compounds is an effective way to protect the environment and recover energy and materials.
Research approach: In this research, the aim is to investigate the process of tire pyrolysis as well as the simultaneous pyrolysis (co-pyrolysis) process of tire and fuel oil. Here, the effect of different operating conditions such as temperature, volumetric nitrogen gas, heating rate and tire parts size on the physical quantities and physical properties of the products manufactured by these processes have been investigated.
Main results: The optimal operating conditions for these experiments are 420C, the volumetric gas flow rate is 100 ml / min and the heating rate is 3 C / min. The volume of the reactor used is 500 ml and the amount of mazut in the coprolysis process is 30 wt%. The highest amount of liquid produced in the process of pyrolysis of used tire was achieved using feed with a particle size of 4×2×0.5cm³, which is 43.3% by weight. In contrast, the largest liquid product produced in the simultaneous pyrolysis process of the tire and mazut was obtained using tire parts with a size of 4×4×0.5cm³, which is 52.3% by weight. In this study, the physical properties of liquid products produced by two processes of pyrolysis of tire and co-pyrolysis of tire and mazut, such as kinematic viscosity, density and refractive index, have been investigated.